1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
This invention relates to an automated portable pet toilet in which a clean, unused portion of a waste-receiving member is provided automatically each time the pet steps off a platform after excretion.
2. Background Art
Pets provide companionship, which is recognized as being beneficial to the well-being of single working people, the elderly living alone, and children. The company of a pet can also relieve fatigue in pet owners driving long distances. Pets are, of course, popular among people generally. In each case, there is a need for a lightweight, convenient, and attractive portable pet toilet that does not require daily cleaning and that does not emit odors. The present invention meets that need for all pets, especially dogs and cats, which can be trained to excrete in a given location.
There are several devices in the existing art which replace the ordinary litter box. U.S. Pat. No. 3,937,182, to Kamimura, entitled Pet Toilet, discloses a pet toilet in which liquid and solid wastes are collected separately by means of a manually operated filter belt that slides over a sloped tray into two receptacles: one for collecting liquid waste, and one for collecting solid waste. This device requires daily maintenance, as, in order to clean the litter after each use, the pet owner must operate the belt manually.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,104, to Pierson, entitled Automatic Cat Toilet, describes a cat toilet in which cat solid waste and cat urine-saturated litter mass is separated from surrounding cat litter by automatic rotation. The rotation also serves to blend unused litter with the litter previously in contact with the saturated litter mass. After processing, the cat waste is stored in a disposable waste bag liner. The rotation mechanism must be activated manually in order to separate out the cat waste. Since the litter is reused, the cat's paws come in contact with bacteria, as in standard litter boxes.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,057, to Lee, et al., entitled Pet Toilet, discloses a system based on a mechanism providing predetermined delay time in response to detection of a pet, and an output signal provided by photoelectric means, which activates the cleaning of waste by water flushing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,342 to Loctin, entitled Self Cleaning Pet Toilet, discloses a housing with walls which are automatically sprayed with water, and a sensor, informed by a timer, which closes the door of the housing after the pet leaves the toilet.
In both immediately preceding cases, the portability of the pet toilet described is limited by the connection to a water source and drain, as well as by the expensive necessity for special installation, which then limits the capacity of the drain. These occupy shared space in the bathroom.